Iftikhar Hussain Ansari (26 April 1942 – 30 September 2014), widely known among his followers as Moulvi Sahib, was a

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, their language People with the name * Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...

cleric, politician, businessman and a proponent of the

Grand Ashura Procession In Kashmir Ashura processions in Kashmir mark the Day of Ashura commemorating the death of Husayn ibn Ali in the Battle of Karbala. However major mourning processions have been banned by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir since the 1990s when there was a ...

. He was a representative of Ruhollah Khomeini and other maraji’. He was a towering Islamic scholar in India and had close relations with multiple other important scholars such as Sayyid Jawad Shahristani,

Mohammad Alavi Gorgani Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammad Ali Hosseini Alavi Gorgani ( fa, سيد محمد على حسينى علوى گرگانى; March 1940 – 15 March 2022) was an Iranian Twelver Shi'a marja. He was born in a religious family in Najaf, Iraq. He r ...

and Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani. He succeeded his father Muhammad Jawad Ansari as president of the

All Jammu and Kashmir Shia Association All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

in Jammu & Kashmir in 1962, a position which he held for life. He was a sitting member of Jammu and Kashmir's Legislative Assembly for the

Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...

; he was earlier a member of the National Conference and

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

Assassinations

Ansari was thrice the target of unsuccessful assassination attempts. In June 2000, Ansari barely escaped the explosion of a

landmine A land mine is an explosive weapon, explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically d ...

while addressing a religious congregation at Gund Khwaja Qasim. The blast killed twelve of his followers. On 1 September 2000, Ansari was injured by an IED explosion that killed two policemen and a driver. Police suspected the

Hizbul Mujahideen Hizbul Mujahideen, also spelled Hizb-ul-Mujahideen ( ar, حزب المجاھدین, ), is an Islamism, Islamist militant organization operating in the Kashmir region. Its goal is to separate Kashmir Valley, Kashmir from India and merge it with ...

Death

Ansari died at his residence in Dar ul Jawad, Qamarwari, Srinagar on the morning of 30 September 2014 after a prolonged liver illness. Ansari had been undergoing specialized treatment in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Various political, religious and social leaders offered condolences. Almost more than two hundred thousand people attended his funeral, from qamarwari to Zadibal imambargah where namaz e jenazah was offered. He was buried in his ancestral graveyard, Baba Mazar, Alamgari Bazar, Zadibal, Srinagar.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ansari, Iftikhar Hussain 1943 births 2014 deaths Indian Shia Muslims Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party politicians Indian National Congress politicians Jammu & Kashmir National Conference politicians Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 1983–1986 Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 1996–2002 Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 2002–2008 Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 2008–2014